The following is political overview and statement of general political
positions. We
have written these political positions form the perspective of the
Armed Front because
we feel that such a perspective is needed in the total revolutionary
process for Black
liberation. We are general in our public statement because we are essentially
a
military and political front, therefore it would not do to speak in
any other terms, for the
actions of the armed front will address themselves to the specifics
of our people's
national oppression. We do not wish the ENEMY to gain tactical insight
in carrying out
his repressive campaigns, while on the other hand we do desire that
the Black
Liberation Movement understand the correct role armed struggle plays
in a peoples
struggle and how this role is in motion for us here in North American.

The tool of analysis is for us a further development of the Historical
Materialist method,
the dialectical method. We will not even waste our time debating the
values of Marxism
with those who are emotionally hung up on white people hung up to the
point of
ideological blindness. We understand the process of revolution, and
fundamental to
this understanding is this fact: Marxism is developed to a higher level
when it is
scientifically adapted to a peoples' unique national condition, becoming
a new
ideology altogether. Thus was the case in China, Guinea Bissau, Vietnam,
North
Korea, the Peoples Republic of the Congo and many other socialist nations.
For Black
people here in north America our struggle is not only unique, but it
is the most
sophisticated and advanced oppression of a racial national minority
in the whole
world. We are the true 20th century slaves, and the use of the dialectical
method, class
struggle and national liberation, will find its highest development
as a result of us. This
dialectic holds true not only for Marxism, but for revolutionary nationalism
as well it
holds true for concepts of revolutionary Pan-Africanism it is true
of the theoretical basis
in developing revolutionary Black culture. All of these ideological
trends will find their
highest expression as a result of our advanced oppression.

Yet, we must be ever mindful that the same objective process is true
for reactionary
refinement as a result of our struggle. This is the unity of opposites
in struggle with
each other. To defeat our enemy and render his reactionary allies impotent,
we must
have a truly revolutionary perspective informed by concepts of revolutionary
class
struggle, a movement without such a perspective will fail to defeat
our common
oppressor. We are not afraid of white people controlling our movement,
for our
formations, guns, and ideas are built with our own hands, efforts,
and blood. With this
in mind, we address ourselves to the Black Liberation struggle, its
activist elements
and organizations. Our call is for UNITY,
FOR A NATIONAL BLACK LIBERATIONFRONT. We must build to win!

Nyurba

Black Liberation ArmyAN OVERVIEW

We will start with the basic fact that Capitalism and Imperialism as
an economical
system is in a deep crisis at home and abroad. The basis of this crisis
is, of course,
the exploitive relationships that capital must maintain in order to
function. It is these
economic, social and political relationships that signal the eventual
doom of our
oppressors and this system of oppression under which we all live.

This crisis of capitalism is of a protracted nature. By this we mean
it is a long process
of deterioration that is spread over a considerable length of time.
The seeming
material wealth which we see all around us in no way contradict this
fact of decay,
deterioration, or the fact of crisis. In fact, over-production and
uneven distribution have
led time and time again to a bloated market, cutbacks in employment
, and all the
attendant ills of a economy based on private ownership of socially
produced
commodities. Inflation, soaring prices, and inadequate wages are all
symptoms of an
economy that is based primarily on class exploitation at home ad national
domination
of the Third World's resources abroad.

The heightening of oppressed peoples struggles abroad have added to
the crisis of
the entire western world, and threaten to cut drastically its essential
resources. We
realize that the chief economical and military power in the western
world and its ruling
circles, will never allow the demise of its empire without a desperate
fight. We, as
Blacks in North America, must realize that to seek inclusion into the
prevailing
socio-economic system is suicide in the long run, for the prevailing
system cannot
withstand the irresistible world trend of history which is opposed
to continued U.S.
exploitation, racist domination and subjugation. To fool ourselves
into believing that
"equal opportunity", "justice"," and social equality is the same as
the capitalist system
is a grave mistake with genocidal implications for every person of
color. Our first
obligation is to ourselves, this means our first obligation is to secure
our total liberation
from those forces that maintain our oppressive condition. Related to
this self obligation
(not distinct from it), is our obligation to all oppressed peoples
throughout the world, for
in striving to liberate ourselves we must abolish a system that enslaves
others
throughout the world. This, in essence, is our historical duty, we
can either carry it out
or betray it - - but we most certainly will be judged accordingly by
the world's peoples.

The B.L.A., as a result of realizing the economical nature of the system
under which we
are forced to live, maintains the following principles:

2.
That we must of necessity strive for the abolishment of these systems and for the institution
of Socialistic relationships in which Black people have total and absolute
control over their own destiny as a people.

3.That
in order to abolish our systems of oppression, we must utilize the science of class
struggle, develop this science as it relates to our unique national condition.

Our recognition of the economical contradictions of capital in no way
obscures the
social and political realities that now confront us and our struggle
for Black Liberation.
To the contrary, it enhances and deepens our perspective and clarifies
the dialectical
role or armed struggle in our liberation process.

We have begun to recognize and analyze those forces in a modern technologically
advanced society that set our particular struggle apart from other
Third world people's
struggles, as well as the common factors all oppressed peoples share
as a result of
U.S. and western imperialism. One such factor that sets our struggle
apart from other
struggles is the profound influence of organized technology on our
consciousness,
social relationships, and behavior. People who live in the technologically
advanced
societies of the west have been programmed to perceive their needs
as being one in
the same as the technology that created these artificial needs. Because
the masses of
working people do not control this technology, it has been consistently
used to
manipulate their whole lives. We are told what to buy, what to eat,
whom to hate, and
what to love, by rulers and controllers of an exploitive system.

Technology in the context of capitalism is the ultimate means by which
the masses are
programmed out of the need for real freedom. A whole social value system
has
evolved to support the dependence on corporate state technological
control. We no
longer know what freedom is what self determination is. We perceive
the value of
competition as being in the natural order of human relationships, instead
of contrary to
the fact that people are social animals, more attuned to cooperation
than competition.
We must create in the course of destroying our system of oppression,
whole new value
concepts, concepts that exist in dialectical opposition to the values
that buttress our
oppression - - even more than this, we must create a new need within
ourselves for
freedom, so that we can harness technology in our behalf. As it stands
how, Black
people cannot even conceive of real freedom; we are afraid of real
liberation because
we have been programmed to be afraid by racist class oppression
even more than
this, we must create a new need within ourselves for freedom, so that
we can harness
technology in our behalf. As it stands how, Black people cannot even
conceive of real
freedom; we are afraid of real liberation because we have been programmed
to be
afraid by racist class oppression. Technology has immensely added in
reinforcing our
fear of the dominant ruling circles. We must break this social psychosis.

The B.L.A. has undertaken armed struggle as a means by which the social
psychosis
of fear, awe, and love of everything white people define as being of
value, is purged
from our peoples' minds. Our historical experience in North America
has shown us that
we as a people have always suffered while the racist ruling circles
have never suffered.
We have seen throughout our history pain, blood, rape, exploitation,
poverty, our
families torn asunder by a cruel and brutal culture, our youth murdered
and socially
crippled, our women degraded, our lives ever at the mercy of the cold
American dream
machine. We realize that the results of this historical experience
has caused Black
people to fear America's capacity for racist violence, and on the other
hand , has
reinforced the racist ruling circles in their attitudes of arrogance
and confidence. The
fact that the majority of whites who are equally oppressed and exploited
do not really
understand who their real enemy is, does not deter us from doing what
must be done
to break not only our people'' mental chains, but theirs as well. We
therefore, will
illustrate in the only terms that the ruling classes understand
the terms of blood
their blood. America must learn that Black people are not the eternal
sufferers, the
universal prisoners, the only ones who can feel pain. Revolutionary
violence is,
therefore, not a tactic of struggle, but a strategy. A strategy designed
to drive the
capitalist system further into crisis, while at the same time forcing
all those responsible
for oppression to realize that they too can bleed, they too can feel
our pain. Only when
this is realized, will any just and equal decisions be made, will we
be conceded our
right to self determination. As it stands now, the powerful do not
believe they can hurt
and therefore, find concession to our demands for liberation ridiculous.
Our
social/psychotic fear of the racists ruling circles must be purged
also, and only by
developing our capacity to fight our enemy will this unreasonable and
reactionary fear
be eradicated from our social psyche. Revolutionary violence is not
so much a self
cleansing process as it is a necessary ingredient in creating a psychological
frame of
mind amongst the ruling classes that our liberation must be granted.

We must clarify revolutionary violence in relationship to our actual
condition, because
many of our people believe in the "law," or at least the existing code
of law of our
oppressor. Most people do not see the real relationship between the
development of
western law and the development of western capitalism; therefore, these
people
cannot deal with the reality of injustice as being an integral part
of the prevailing
system. Not a few people misunderstand the objective class function
for the courts, the
police, and various related institutions in maintaining the illusion
of North American
democracy.

In a society such as exists here today, law is never impartial, never
divorced from the
economical relationships that brought it about. History clearly shows
that in the course
of the development of modern western society, the code of law is the
code of the
dominant and most powerful class, made into laws for everyone. It is
implemented by
establishing "special" armed organs, that are obliged to enforce the
prevailing class
laws. In this historical period of human social development such is
the objective
function of "law". Under such conditions of the most powerful economic
and political
classes. But, what about the law in a democracy, especially one that
claims that all its
citizens can elect their representatives who in turn can create new
laws? First of all,
such a democracy does not exist in North America, bourgeois democracy
as such is
merely a means of political control that evinces a design to subjugate
its people, all of
these reasons flow from the necessity to maintain exploitive capitalist
relationships.
Thus, the influence of corporate wealth on the politics of bourgeois
democracy is
merely an extension of private property's traditional influence and
control of the
so-called democratic process. The constant co-optation by ruling classes
of the
masses of working peoples, coupled with their complete control of technology
and of
working peoples, coupled with their complete control of technology
and of working
people, coupled with their complete control of technology and information
renders the
so-called democratic process null and void. To a reflections of the
class organization
of that society and the reflection of a given technological economical
arrangement and
its supporting value system. The political organization of the most
powerful classes or
economic groups in a class society has to be, and is, the control by
these classes or
economic groups over the entire society and its political system. We
ha found the
democratic process under capitalism to be merely a means by which capital
controls
the masses. It is a means of mass diversion, designed to keep the powerless
classes
politically impotent while at the same time fostering the illusion
that real power can be
gained through the electoral process. Black people should know better.
In a nation
based on the false principle of majority rule, we are a marginal minority
and therefore
our right to self determination cannot be won in the arena of our oppressor.

The rejection of reformism however, is much deeper than the above reasons.
For if
reformism is a rejection of any meaningful change, it is also a rejection
of revolutionary
violence, and therefore reformism is a functional ignorance of the
dynamics of Black
liberation. This is because the character of reformism is based on
unprincipled class
collaboration with our enemy. The ideals of class collaboration do
not stand in
opposition to our people's oppression, but instead consistently seeks
to reform the
oppressive system. Reform of the oppressive system can never benefit
its victims, in
the final analysis the system of oppression was created to insure the
rule of particular
racist classes and sanctify their capital. To seek reform therefore
inevitably leads to, or
begins with, the recognition of the laws of our oppressor as being
valid.

Those within the movement who condemn the revolutionary violence of
anti capitalist,
anti capitalist, anti imperialist, and revolutionary Black nationalist
groups are in
essence weakening themselves. These fools do not understand the inter-active
need
for revolutionary violence with other forms of struggle and because
they do not
understand the real dynamics involved they seriously inhibit the development
of the
liberation movement as a whole. These reformists in liberationist garb
should
understand that unless the movement cultivates its capacity to fight
the enemy on all
fronts, no front will secure any real victories. It is abysmal ignorance
that imagines our
oppression in any other terms than undeclared war.

How will the movement as a whole be able to fight the oppressor in the
future when all
other "legal" methods are completely exhausted? How will we implement
political
struggle without the machinery and capacity for revolutionary violence
when it is
abundantly clear that our oppressor maintains armed organs of violence
for the
enforcement of his rules? We as a movement will be unable to fight
in the future if we
do not develop the capacity for revolutionary violence in the present.
But revolutionary
violence is not an alternative to mass movement and organization, it
is complementary
to mass struggle, it is another front in the total liberation process.
Those who put the
question of revolutionary violence in "alternative" terms are guilty
of crippled politics at
worst. Those involved in the total revolutionary process, yet claim
not to "endorse"
revolutionary violence when it occurs, are attempting to "legitimize"
their existence at the
expense of the entire struggle. The only "legitimacy" these people
can possibly be
seeking in such cases is bourgeois legitimacy. These type people further
confuse the
masses, for revolutionary violence is not clarified and extended in
order to undermine
the psychological dependence Black people still have on racist reactionary
"legality."
This is the vilest of sins, one for which everyone will pay during
heightened repression.

We therefore do not view the "law" of our class enemies as valid, no
do we feel
restricted in struggle to his laws. On the other hand, we understand
the "tactical" value of
using the law and consequently we understand the tactical value of
reform in the
liberation process. For example, school takeovers by community parents,
rent strikes
by tenants, labor union takeover by dissident members, etc., utilizing
their systems and
built-in safeguards to obtain certain goals that place the enemy at
a temporary
disadvantage. But we maintain there is only tactical value to reform
when there exists
other forms of revolutionary struggle against the whole of the capitalist
structure.
Reform as such is inherently reactionary and perpetuated psychological
dependence
on the enemy, while confusing the true class contradictions between
ourselves and the
enemy. Considering these factors, we maintain that reform can never
be anything
more than a tactic, never a complete strategy, never offering in itself
any revolutionary
change. While it may offer the Black bourgeoisie rewards, it can never
be the road to
self determination for the entire Black populace.

We also strongly condemn those who claim to be progressive, yet depreciate
revolutionary violence of an oppressed people in their struggle for
liberation. There can
be no conditions on our fight for freedom except those set by the oppressed
themselves. Those who claim that revolutionary violence gives the enemy
the
opportunity to repress the movement in general are profoundly mistaken
if they think
the reactionary government needs such excuses for repression, or that
the government
does not recognize the real danger in allowing a movement to develop
the full blown
capacity to wage armed struggle. The B.L.A. has undertaken the task
of building just
such a capacity, along with other comrades on the clandestine level.
WHY BUILD THE ARMED FRONT ?

We have chosen to build the armed front, the urban guerilla front, not
as an alternative
to organizing masses of Black people, but because the liberation movement
as a
whole must prepare armed formations at each stage in its struggle.
A failure to build
these armed formations can be fatal to both the struggle and Black
people.

Our Ultimate or strategic goal at this point in creating the apparatus
of revolutionary
violence is to weaken the enemy capitalist state, creating at the same
time
objective subjective conditions that are ripe for the formation of
a National Black
Liberation Front composed of many progressive revolutionary, and nationalist
groupings, and in this same process create the nucleus of the armed
clandestine
organs which such a front would need in order to carry out its political
tasks. These are
the broad reasons for our devotion to armed struggle. The fact that
no such national
united front exists now, in no way precludes the fact that the creation
of one will
become necessary in the future (as the contradictions of capitalist
society increase
repression, racism and social deterioration). We are of the opinion
that subjective
conditions are not ripe for such unity.

Because of objective conditions, namely, enemy activity and the relative
low degree of
unity within the Black struggle, we have decided to build the apparatus
separate and
distinct (organizationally) from all other mass type groups. This is
a tactical necessity,
but this tactical necessity does note contradict our strategic all
for all groups in the
Black liberation movement to form a national united front, with the
principle of armed
action as one of many "legitimate" forms of political policy.

At present the contradictions that any B.L.A. activities may cause are
not to be
avoided. Every progressive should welcome the exposure and development
of
contradictions, for it is through the development of contradictions
that we will all move
forward. Every brother, every sister on the side of liberation should
and must support
the struggle on all fronts, and clarify to our people the acts of revolutionary
violence
committed against our common oppressors and class enemies of all colors.
This
means the revolutionary violence must be supported by those in the
movement on all
levels. While such support will be difficult at first, objective conditions
and time will
remove much of the difficulty which primarily ideological myopia to
begin with. We
know from experience that because of the class nature of our struggle
and its racist
aspect, many of our actions may very well be tactical action of a purely
military psychological nature, and because of this clear political
support may seem
quite difficult. Nonetheless we intend to clarify all acts of revolutionary
violence and
accepts responsibility for these acts. The important factor, however,
is that the
progressive movement, the liberation movement, and comrades on all
levels of
struggle understand that failure to support the armed urban guerilla
front (military,
politically) is a failure to support the mass front, is a failure to
support the "legal" thrusts
of our struggle in "civil rights," and in the final analysis, an abdication
of responsibility.
Cowardice can be understood, but not opportunism and an abdication
of commitment
to our total liberation.
RACISM AND CLASS

Our recognition of the class nature of our struggle has led us to certain
objective
conclusions which have been borne out by actual conditions. We have
for some time
now observed how the influence of certain class values determine how
one acts or
reacts in society. We have observed the class differences among the
majority white
population in the United States, and the reflection of these difference
among Black
people. As we have said years before this, the class difference among
Black people
are difference in consciousness, attitudes, and behavior, but unlike
these same class
difference among whites, economic status or economic position is not
the major
determinate. The overwhelming majority of Blacks (with the exception
of very few) are
essentially in the same economic class, and suffer essentially the
same relationship to
the productive forces of capital.

Despite this fact however, the difference in consciousness and in attitudes
are real,
and therefore must be dealt with as if these attitudes were economic
class distinctions.
The reality of our people tells us that not only are there Black enemies
of Black people,
but that these Black enemies are first and foremost class enemies of
our struggle for
liberation. It is their class values, ideas, and class ideals that
make them what they are,
coupled with the fact that these enemies in Black face can hide among
us, spreading
their various reactionary liberal philosophies of gradualism, Black
capitalism,
"integration," cultural nationalism, reformism, etc.

The reason why these Black class enemies find acceptance are many. The
first and
foremost reason is our unique social psychology, or our emotional response
to racism.
This reflex has primed us to think in terms of color first (just as
it programmed whites to
view color as a determinant factor), and when such thinking becomes
culturally typical
of us, we are vulnerable to class infiltration by Black enemies of
our struggle. We tend
to blame the color and not the class values of our oppressor when we
are betrayed or
exploited by one of our own people. Thus when a Black person betrays
or hurts us we
say, "n-words ain't shit!" (this also indicates self hatred and/or
self pity); instead, what
we should say is that "certain classes of n-words ain't shit!"

Why should we have such a class perspective, and maintain class vigilance
for ruling
class lackeys? The first reason is that in a class society such as
the one that we suffer
under, every brand of thought, every form of behavior are stamped with
the mark of a
particular class. This has deep meaning for us, for the dominant classes
in this country
are white and their culture racist. We as Blacks reflect in our thinking
the values, and
ideas of these dominant classes, as well as the defensive response
to their
social cultural racist. We as Blacks reflect in our thinking the values,
and ideas of these
dominant classes, as well as the defensive response to their social
cultural racism
manifested in their system of rule. For these reasons we are vulnerable,
we can easily
be misled, abused and misused. We become easy targets for the racist
ploys of our
collective enemy. The enemy can use skin color to confuse us into thinking
that if we
attack another Black we are necessarily attacking ourselves; when it
may very well be
the other way around we are attacking him! It is to our advantage to
have a clear
principled class view. It is to the oppressors disadvantage if we are
principled class
conscious individuals, opposed to unprincipled class collaboration.

If we look at most of the organizations on the scene today, and their
philosophies,
leadership, and methods of. Struggle, we will see the reflection of
certain class ideals,
ideas and values. Overwhelmingly these groups each reflect the goals
of a particular
class of Black folks. Without a revolutionary class perspective, we
who are striving to
acquire total emancipation from the forces which enslave the whole
of our people, will
be unable to distinguish true friends from true enemies, those who
are confused from
those who are conscious tools of the oppressor, and we will not be
able to win
potential allies.

This brings us to the dialectical role of culture, for if we understand
that as members of
a class society (or victims) we all are influenced by the class perspectives
of that
society, and for Black people this means the values, standards, etc.,
of the dominant
racist classes, then we must understand the tool by which we are programmed
into
these perspectives of class. Culture is the tool. We view culture as
the means by which
a dominant class programs the whole of society into that classes' ideals,
values, and
standards, thereby perpetuating its dominance.

This objective class function of culture should not lead us to the incorrect
conclusion
that if we adopt a "cultural" orientation in our fight for liberation
that such would be
sufficient. This is the essential view of the cultural nationalists
who orient all around
culture, such a view is incorrect. For it does not deal with the economic,
class, and
psychological basis of the struggle between two opposing cultural entities.
The
dominant reactionary culture must be destroyed before any revolutionary
culture can
truly manifest itself. In other words, it is in the active struggle
of the two that the seeds
of a revolutionary culture are laid. Not in the passive creation of
an alternative "culture".
Such could only be an alternative life style, allowed to exist at the
will of the dominant
capitalist culture. In this sense cultural nationalism is bourgeois
nationalism because it
does not propose the abolishment of the capitalist system and culture.

In dealing with the objective function of culture then, we understand
its social role in
maintaining certain class relationships. A racist culture does this
and more. A racist
culture programs not only the members of the dominant racial group
into class ideals,
standards, and values, but it also psychologically creates the necessary
racist attitudes
needed to maintain these class perspectives as a whole) against the
targets of that
racism. Thus the feelings of superiority, fear of Blacks, and hostility
toward the strivings
of Black people (and all Third World peoples in general) is deeply
ingrained into the
white psyche along with the class phobias and standards. Even more
than this, the
victims of the racist culture are programmed into feelings of self
hatred, inferiority, and
impotency. Very often this creates a mental social state that views
the prevailing
system as eternal and everlasting. Coupled with the class values of
the dominant
culture, Black folks are constantly torn between wanting what the oppressor
defines as
desirable, and the inability to get it. Or, to get it and then realize
that it was only a hoax,
he is still, as Black as ever. All of this is crippling for the oppressed
Black person, for it
ties their brains irrevocably' to their oppressors for salvation, often
leading to the
clownish pursuit of all that is defined as "good" by the standards
of the oppressor.

In order to break these psychological class chains of 20th century enslavement,
we
must build a revolutionary culture. A culture that not only programs
our minds out of
oppression, but at the same time impels us against the enemy classes
and culture.
The B.L.A. contribution in building such a culture will be to strive
to create an armed
tradition of resistance to our oppression, and to create a socio-psychological
frame of
mind on both oppressed and oppressor alike, that will lead to our eventual
self determination as a people.

We therefore make few distinctions based on the color of our enemies.
The same
treatment will be meted out to white ruling class enemies and their
lackeys as will be
meted out to Black bootlickers and Black class enemies of our struggle.
Our only
consideration is that our armed formations and leadership are of our
own people.
DESTRUCTIVE SUB-CULTURE, CRIME
AND PRISON

The Black communities of the United States are the tragic results of
class/ race
subjugation, an oppressive situation created and exploited by the rich
white capitalist
class of this corrupt country, and systematically perpetuated and reinforced
through
their various institutions. The wretched conditions that are inherent
within these ghettos
continue to exist not because there are no means of erasing them, but
rather because
they have proven profitable to the class that created them.

The ruling class of the racist descendants of the chattel slave holders.
They have
amassed a vast portion of the world's wealth through their rapacious
practice of
profiting off the misery and discomfort of humanity in general, and
Third World people
in particular. They use this enormous concentration of wealth to buy,
bribe, steal,
influence, murder, enslave, Blackmail, control, and repress any nation,
organization,
group or individual that would speak out against, or offer any serious
opposition to
their self imposed right to power.

In order to maintain the present mis-arrangement, the social imbalances,
the
bourgeois class continues to use repressive tactics in various forms.
The effects of this
repression becomes clearly evident upon examination of the destructive
sub-culture
(the Black community) born out of American politics.

This sub-culture materialized out of the need of Black folks for security
and a sense of
belonging that had been denied them since their arrival in this country;
an attempt by
the rejected and dispossessed a totally de-culturalized people to integrate
bourgeois society by imitating the life-style and adopting the value
system of their
oppressors.

The destructive nature of this sub-culture manifests itself in the living
reality of Black
folks' attitudinal and philosophical outlook on life. The self preserving
quality of unity is
almost totally absent in the Black community. In its place there is
an unhealthy
atmosphere of individuality which is detrimental and inconsistent with
the needs of our
people, for it is precisely this thinking that has kept us divided
and un-organized for so
long.

It would seem that brothers and sisters would recognize the fact that
by accepting and
perpetuating the values of the class that oppresses us, that they are
only aiding in their
own genocide. They have all the physical evidence necessary to prove
that the values
that they now cherish so dearly are not complimentary to their best
interests.

In our community we continuously come face to face with the reality
of our situation.
The dilapidated, fire hazard tenements; the Black mother with her un-fed
child; the
brother overdoses from the C.I.A.'s right to free enterprise; the sister
that sells herself
to an abominable pleasure seeking fool the unemployed/unskilled/miseducated
remains of a once beautiful people.

It's sickening to listen to "Negro's" talk about how much profit they've
made from selling
dope and pimping sisters about the brand name automobile they're driving,
while their
children are starving because they have ceased to be men or to hear
some
bad talking, chicken-hearted punk describe how he has ripped off some
poor Black's
life savings because he does not have the courage to take it from the
criminals who
oppress us.

We can't afford to continue as we have for the past one hundred years
if we expect to
ever be in the position to determine the quality of our own lives,
and more important,
the lives of our children. Already the influence of the negative images
projected by
some Black folks have filtered down to our offspring. In their attempts
to emulate their
elders, Black kids are beginning to take on the psychological posture
of the street
wise. They are being taught (through words and action) that the only
way to get ahead
in this world is to "get the money" and "go for self." Such values
are mere reflections of
a potentially destructive sub-culture organized within the social order
of a modern
technological society. What we must understand is the institutional
process that is
constantly at work in our daily lives. Only with such an understanding
can we begin to
make the struggle for liberation a part of our peoples' everyday life,
uniting the large
objective struggle for liberation with our people's subjective struggle,
and make them
one continuous movement.

Every institution in this racist class society serves the intended or
unintended purpose
of maintaining the attitudes, and relationships of our destructive
sub-culture. Welfare,
housing agencies, systems programs, courts, prisons and countless other
ruling class
institutions reinforce negative relationships among Blacks. Our relationship
and
dependence on these enemy institutions is total, and only with their
collapse can true
alternative institutions prosper, but the process must begin now. We
must not only build
alternative social, economic, and political institutions, but we must
intentionally
sabotage, overload, and destroy existing ruling class institutions
in the process.

Part of our socialization process is the reality of prison and "crime."
Crime in a
capitalist society has a class basis, and is punished in accordance
with this class
basis. The whole of capitalist society is predicated upon exploitive
relations, and thus
lower class crime is a reflection of ruling class criminal values and
practices. In the
Black community the average inmate is exposed to, and preyed upon by
these very
criminal values. We knock each other in the head, rob each other, burglarize
each
other's apartments, sell dope as a means of "getting over" because
we each want
what the system of capital has defined as being of value, but has forbidden
us to
acquire in "legitimate" fashion. In a society that views a persons
material things as
determining his or her worth, we are the most hungry to be of "worth,"
crime is
essentially illegitimate capitalism in such an arrangement. We are
socialized into this
distorted existence and can hardly see the root causes that make our
community
havens for dope sellers, mack men, and hustlers.

The reality of the Black experience in America has not only socialized
us into living
illegitimate lives (in terms of capitalist law) but it has programmed
us to expect and
look to the very institutions that created this socialization in the
first place, for solutions
to our plight. We ask for more police in our community, when it is
the police that serve
a repressive role in maintaining our oppression. We condone and glorify
traitors and
snitches, when in the future our very survival will depend on ideals
contrary to such vile
acts. We ask for stiffer jail sentences for those convicted as "criminals,"
when it is
prisons that help maintain destructive social relations in our community.
The fact that all
of America is a prison escapes us. This reality has enabled Black folk
to adapt so
readily to the transition from "street life" to life behind the walls.
There is a dialectical
and fundamental relationship between the two that reinforces the destructive
aspect of
Black social relationships.

The weakening of the Black family, the socialization of exploitive male
female
relationships, the basic fabric that supports cultural genocide can
all be found in the
social role that prisons and crime play in a destructive subculture.
Hardly a Black
family, hardly a Black person is without at least one relative or friend
behind prison
wails, or know of someone in human cold storage. Our social acceptance
of this cold
fact is in reality our cultural response to the effect of powerlessness
as a people. We
must begin to determine our lives by creating community institutions
of revolutionary
justice outside the structure of capitalist law. This means we must
create armed
political organs in our community to enforce our community interest,
and create new
values based on our people's social interest. It will not do to forego
this vital aspect of
our struggle, we must build it now.

Why is the construction and maintenance of community based armed cadres
necessary? Because the enforcement of revolutionary justice in our
communities is
first a political question that cannot be answered by the existing
oppressive system,
but outside its control. Secondly, the very nature of corruption, crime
in our
communities, the negative class role of the courts, prisons, and other
related
institutions, must be combated with enforcement of our own laws, laws
beneficial to our
people and our struggle for liberation. Thirdly, if we construct our
own agencies of
revolutionary justice, arm them and politicize their ranks, we are
creating the necessary
machinery for survival, while actively repressing those values and
elements in our
community that prey on our people. Finally, we should realize that
until our powerless,
poor, and unconscious people can call someone else other than the oppressors'
storm
troopers for protection, we are ineffective as a revolutionary movement.

Complementary to creating our own social force of "law" enforcement
is the struggle to
take over, dismantle, and weaken the oppressors police apparatus in
our community.
This apparatus must be neutralized at the same time that our own apparatus
is being
built. The two are dialectically opposed to each other, yet there is
a complementary
aspect. Community control of police, residence of the police in the
community in which
they work, are all reform issues that tactically are complementary
to building our own
system of community revolutionary justice. These reform issues should
be the
continued target of the mass front, while the creation of community
based armed
cadres for the enforcement of revolutionary justice is the proper province
of
clandestine activity.

We maintain that in the social revolution for Black liberation, it is
a principled necessity
that any creation of a national Black front must first and foremost
deal with the social
effects of a destructive sub-culture by creating and directing a system
of revolutionary
justice that will protect and defend our people against reactionary
behavior. This is the
social aspect of Black liberation for the immediate future.
LEADERSHIP OF THE STRUGGLE

It is important that the leadership of our struggle come from among
our own people,
just as it is crucial that we build the necessary machinery that will
develop this
leadership. The problem of leadership has always been a vexing one
for Black people.
We must break with the old style of leadership forced upon us by the
prevailing class
standards or we will fail in our struggle. Nonetheless, leadership
is important,
especially to Black people, and without it we will never triumph in
our struggle.

It is past time that Black intellectuals, professionals, and so-called
Black scholars
assumed a more active role in the leadership of the liberation struggle,
instead of
laying back theorizing and writing essays in a vacuum, or in various
Black bourgeois
publications.

We realize that many of our Black scholars have their minds in pawn
to the ruling class,
we are not primarily addressing ourselves to these particular individuals,
but to those
brothers and sisters who have a relatively high level of awareness
(political) and to
those Black intellectuals who are anti imperialist, anti capitalist)
and pro Black
liberation. It is these Black intellectuals who must assume new positions
of leadership
in our struggle by helping to build the necessary revolutionary apparatus
that will forge
total liberation.

On the armed front it is these intellectuals who must become the political
leadership
and work in creating a far reaching and effective apparatus. Our struggle
for Black
liberation is a revolutionary struggle, for it implies the transformation
of the whole of
American society if it is to succeed, and Black intellectuals have
a clear obligation to
this process. We have seen how the capitalist state uses its intellectuals
and
institutions of "higher education" In order to continue, its exploitive
policies) and we as
a people must utilize our professionals and intellectuals in the total
process of

liberation and destruction of capitalistic society. Our principled call
for a national Black
revolutionary front will never become a reality without such leadership
of Black
intellectuals with concrete and clear revolutionary politics. The B.L.A.
will never
subordinate itself to such a front unless leadership of this caliber
is evident. Our
intellectuals must make a firm commitment to improving the quality
of our struggle on
all fronts, military, mass front, electoral politics, legal front,
etc. For us the creation of a
revolutionary front and its military arm are worthy tasks for our intellectuals
to pursue in
the revolutionary process. There can be no struggle without sacrifice,
and our Black
intellectuals must begin to apply this principle to themselves as well
as others.

It is clear to us that the so-called lumpen class cannot carry our liberation
struggle
forward on its own. This is because of their class nature: undisciplined,
dogmatic, and
easily prone to diversion. This class however will supply some of the
most dedicated
comrades to the struggle. 'But we must clarify our view of the lumpen
class as a whole.
The traditional concept of lumpen as a category of the lowest social
strata in an
industrialized society, unemployed, etc., is a description that fits
not only brothers and
sisters that hang out in the street all day long and survive in that
fashion, but it also fits
a great segment of Black people who are marginally employed and who
for various
socio-economic reasons think essentially the same as the classical
"lumpen."
Therefore, we must make a clear distinction between the economic definition
of
lumpen (the relationship of that class to the means of production)
and the attitudinal,
behavioral definition which can readily apply to a larger proportion
of our people. When
we use the term lumpen, we are using the broad definition.

The unemployment rate among Black people is a little over twice that
of the white
population, placing it roughly at 20%. This to us is still a conservative
estimate. But if
we consider the population ratio of Blacks to whites, such a high rate
of unemployment
represents a considerable number of the total amount of Black people.
Therefore, in
strictly social terms, the lumpen class represents a very large segment
of the Black
population, a segment who in our estimation will be the first to grasp
the realities of
capitalist repression. This as it may be, we still realize the limitations
of this class in
moving our struggle forward, their class tendencies make them ideal
targets of the
enemy, as agents, infiltrators, as well as some of these same tendencies
contribute to
making the lumpen class staunch comrades in struggle. When we realize
the real
limitations of this class, we as a movement will begin to create a
more dynamic
revolutionary process.

The Black bourgeoisie (from which most Black intellectuals, professionals,
come)
cannot by themselves lead our struggle, not because they are incapable
of leadership
but because their class nature is more reactionary than revolutionary.
The tendency to
vacillate, compromise with the ruling class enemy, opportunism, and
lack of
commitment to any revolutionary principles, are typical traits of this
class. It is from this
class that the enemy has drawn the majority of so-called "endorsed"
spokesmen, and
it is this class from which the majority of poverty pimps spring forth.

But this class can supply the movement with some dynamic leadership
as well as
devoted comrades. Those truly progressive elements of the Black bourgeoisie
that
can be won over to the side of the liberation struggle should be focused
on by the
movement and principally dealt with. The failure of the liberation
movement to put the
Black bourgeoisie principally against the wall is inexcusable. For
if the people are to
understand the impotency of our bourgeoisie, its opportunism, and the
role they are
made to play in maintaining our collective oppression, the movement
as a whole must
create conditions that will lead to such an understanding.

We have witnessed the ruling class crisis of Watergate, and the division
it has caused
within the ruling circles. This division was essentially based on repairing
the body
politic of capitalist rule. The "crisis of confidence in government"
was a crisis for the
ruling economical circles, for they had to not only restore "faith"
in their system of rule
(political system) but they also had to find a political front man
upon which they all could
agree, and in whom the masses would have some degree of confidence.
Yet the
revelations of Watergate (which were essentially of a political nature
dealing with the
ruling class parties) had profound implications for our struggle. It
hinted at the extent to
which our movement has and is repressed by the reactionary government.
An ideal
opportunity existed for the movement as a whole to put our so-called
"elected leaders"
of the Black bourgeoisie against the wall. But the movement never seized
the
opportunity presented. No consistent widespread call was put to Black
politicians to
conduct a unilateral investigation into the government repression of
the Black liberation
struggle, and into political espionage against the Black movement.
Such a demand
could have revealed glaring repression (and thereby weaken the mental
residual belief
in our oppressors' "fair" system) or as was more likely, the real impotency
of our Black
elected officials would have been clearly revealed (thereby weakening
the confidence
in bourgeois electoral politics to effect change). Of course no such
widespread call
was made, and therefore no such result. It is this lack of practical
class struggle that
inhibits the growth of the mass front. The Black bourgeoisie must be
put into objective
conditions that can benefit our struggle, or enhance the people's awareness
as to what
they are "truly about. Only in this way can those progressive elements
within their ranks
come to the fore.

The majority of Black people are workers and as such suffer all the
exploitation of the
working class in a capitalist society. In addition to this, however,
Black workers suffer
the vicious effect of institutionalized racism. Black workers are the
lowest paid, the
most marginally employed, and the most economically insecure. The impact
of
technology will further erode -the employ-ability of the Black worker,
for in the majority
of cases the educational background of Black workers are lower than
their white
counterparts. Education for Blacks has always been another method of
programming
Black people into the lowest strata of capitalist society insuring
generations of
exploitable and marginal labor.

We view the Black working class as the basis for the success of our
struggle, not
because of its political consciousness (which is still very low) and
not because of its
class nature (more disciplined, industrious), but because of its sheer
numbers and
because of its economic role in the Black community. We do not think
that Black
workers' relationship to the productive forces of this society is essentially
different from
any other class of Blacks due to racism. Although there are some differences
there
seem to be no essential differences. Black folks in total suffer the
same relationship to
capitalist productive forces, some more so than others, but all essentially
the same.

Just as we have made a distinction between the purely economic definition
of the
lumpen and the attitudinal definition of the lumpen, we are forced
to make a similar
distinction between bourgeois attitudes and working class attitudes.
All those who
must work are workers, but all workers are not of the working class.
Such as police
and prison guards who serve a reactionary class function, or those
that work, yet
maintain the upper middle class behavioral patterns and attitudes.

We therefore define the working class (and bourgeoisie) not solely on
their economic
relationship to the productive forces, but also on how they view themselves
and society
and behave as a result. Thus the Black bourgeoisie is a sham bourgeoisie,
for it has
no real economic base (in comparison to white capital) but its attitudes
are real and
strongly affect their class character. The Black working class has
the economical basis
of a working class, but many of them have the mentality of the sham
bourgeoisie, which
effects their social response to certain class ideas. Thus you have
a Black family that
can barely make ends meet with all the ideas of the Black bourgeoisie,
"putting their
daughter through school society," attending "cocktail sips," etc. Nonetheless,
we
perceive the Black working class as the socioeconomic basis of Black
liberation.
The Black working class, like any other unconscious working class has
no
revolutionary identity at best, no consciousness of itself as a revolutionary
class. To
move the enemy is to move the working class, for the enemy is the factor
that
determines our relationship to each other. This can only be done through
active
struggle on all fronts, it is the sum total of this process that brings
about revolutionary
conditions, not the parts in and by themselves.

We can then say that the leadership 'of the Black liberation struggle
will come from the
most advanced elements within each class of the Black population, and
because of
the objective conditions certain classes will gravitate toward particular
fronts of
struggle more so than others, and it is on these particular fronts
of struggle that
leadership will be developed, culminating in some form of collective
leadership for the
entire movement (as conditions dictate such unity for mutual survival).
We already see
this trend in the movement today. However, the basis of the movement
will increasingly
depend on the Black working class and its ability to perceive the nature
of capitalism,
racism, and the politics of these twin evils as they relate to our
survival as a people.
The primary factor in developing such a consciousness is the enemy,
is increasing
crisis, and social reaction to his dilemma. Therefore we must increase
his problems a
thousand fold, while building our capacity to struggle. Yet we do not
see the Black
bourgeoisie as the primary class leading the masses of Black people
into a higher
degree of revolutionary consciousness. Experience has taught us that
the Black
bourgeoisie as a class has certain ideological tendencies. It is these
tendencies if not
curbed, that limit the revolutionary potential of this class of Blacks.
The era of civil
rights, has shown us that any thrust of our liberation struggle primarily
led by this class
will never exceed the bourgeois goals of the class itself. Such being
the case, the
racist ruling circles have always found it more "acceptable" to concede
to Black
bourgeois demands and thereby diffuse any revolutionary movement among
the
masses of Blacks who are not yet conscious of their revolutionary potential.
The racist
oppressor has a natural ally in the Black bourgeoisie, because this
class above all is
the most opportunist.

We still hold fast to the premise that the Black bourgeoisie in the
U.S. is essentially a
colonial type bourgeoisie, that at one moment supports the legitimate
aspirations of
the "colony" (for its own bourgeois ends) and at other moments opposes
these
aspirations when their bourgeois leadership position is threatened.
The history of the
reformist civil rights phase of the Black liberation struggle proves
"this beyond a doubt.
Recognition of these tendencies in this class of Blacks should not
deter the
revolutionary segment of the movement from requiring of the Black bourgeoisie
certain
responsibilities, namely, that it is still their duty to build a movement
that will lead in the
ultimate destruction of the capitalist state and self determination
for Black people for
only under these conditions will our survival as a people (a free people)
manifest itself.

Considering our just given overview of the classes, and class nature
of the Black
liberation struggle, we contend that if the Black working class is
the basis for our
struggle succeeding, and that each of the primary categories of the
Black population
will assume some leadership responsibilities in leading the struggle,
the primary
category of Blacks that will constitute the dynamic revolutionary leadership
of the
movement will be the Black students, and youth as well as those young
Black adults
who have acquired the basics of professional training but have refused
to continue in
the same narrow vein as their parents. The crucial element in developing
this dynamic
potential is the training of this segment of the Black population.
Our youth, students and
young fledgling professionals must be politicized more, involved in
struggle, and
trained in the art of protracted war. Over half of the Black population
is under the age of
30, and we as a movement must realize their true potential. For, if
we don't, the enemy
surely will, and intensify their programs aimed at dehabilitating our
young.
WHAT IS PROTRACTED WAR IN THE
BLACK LIBERATION STRUGGLE?

If the nature of the crisis of the system of oppression is protracted,
that is, drawn out
over a considerable period of time, then our struggle to defeat this
exploitive system
and acquire self determination is also of a protracted nature. But
why a protracted
war?

The very reality of Black people's experience in North America proves
that we are and
have been in a state of war. This is a difficult realization for many
to make, especially
those who still have their minds in pawn to the great American delusion,
but often the
truth is harsh in its naked form. The nature of this war assumes many
different guises,
sometimes overtly violent, sometimes economically restrictive, and
still other times
socially repressive. If we bear in mind that the modern wars of U.S.
imperialism waged
against Third World people have not all been completely military campaigns,
but have
also included social pacification programs, economic aid to reactionary
regimes,
political police extermination of legitimate opposition and the like,
then it should not be
too hard for us to realize that in its policies against Blacks, poor
people, and other
national minorities, the U.S. government is waging an undeclared war.
The primary
aspects of this undeclared war are class repression, and casualties
can be counted on
both the welfare unemployment rolls, and the statistics of murdered
Black youth and
prison crime reports.

This undeclared war has masked itself as "domestic reform," "law and
order," and "a
return to traditional American values" a la Nixonian doctrine. The
ending of overt U.S.
military involvement in Vietnam has led to an increasingly reactionary
stance on the
part of the majority of white Americans. The vile and deceitful nature
of America's
institutions were revealed glaringly by the Vietnam imperialist venture,
and has cast
many into the pit of uncertainty.

Of course the post Vietnam revelations of government deception told
Black people
nothing "new" about the ruling class institutions of American society.
But it revealed
these institutions for what they are, for the first time America could
see what was
perpetrated in their name. This was/is most uncomfortable, for white
America
cherishes its self deceptions of righteousness and democracy. With
the eroding of
these self delusions, our position as a national minority has become
increasingly
endangered. There is the foul odor of reactionary "Americanism" in
the air, fanned and
blown into the confused faces of white America by a ruling class beset
with all manner
of economic political and social ills - - which demand attention. (The
landslide victory of
Nixon in '72 was an endorsement, conscious or unconscious, of white
America's
deep seated reactionary nature and confusion as manifested in the Nixonian
doctrine).

Imperialism is the final stage of over-developed capitalism. It is the
international control
of monopoly corporate capital over the economic, social, and political
lives of over half
the world's people. Imperialism is also the extension of the capitalist
ruling class's
political control on the international level, which has called into
existence the
organization of neo-colonial relationships with the national bourgeoisie
of former
colonies. Neo-colonialism, then, is the highest stage of imperialism,
for it substitutes
the faces of the oppressor while maintaining the exploitive relationship
of imperialism.
Because imperialism is international in scope, the fight against it
must also be
international. For until all people affected by it are free, no one
will be free. Capitalism
must be destroyed wherever it exists and we must mutually support each
others
struggles against it. To relate Pan-Africanism to the realities of
the world today, we
must never lose sight of the true nature of imperialism and its number
one exponent,
U.S. imperialism. Pan-Africanism that does not deal with neo-colonialist
lackeys, but
instead obscures the exploitive policies of these lackeys for the sake
of Blackness, is
nothing more than bourgeois nationalism taken to the international
level. A
Pan-Africanism that does not support the struggles of other Third World
peoples
against reactionary imperialist control, is not true revolutionary
internationalism, and
hence narrow cultural nationalism on the international level. In order
for Pan-Africanism
to be truly progressive, it must not only advocate the necessity for
Black international
unity against racism, it must put racism in its true perspective. It
must also advocate
Black and Third World unity against imperialism and neo-colonialism
everywhere.
Which means internal solidarity among national minorities within the
confines of the
U.S. A Pan-Africanism that does not clarify to Black people the economic
basis for all
national oppression cannot possibly explain the very fact that there
are Black
governments that exploit and assist in the oppression of Black people,
and therefore
will be unable to deal with the dialectics of racism correctly. It
is the duty, therefore, of
Pan-Africanism, to clarify and explain to Black people exactly who
the enemy is. The
enemy is international capitalism, imperialism, and neo-colonialism,
and all those in
league with these reactionary forces on the world scene.

The question of which road against racism and imperialism for the Black
liberation
movement here in the U.S., is a question that has been kicked around
by everyone
from doctrinaire narrow Black nationalists to the most reformist minded
"Black
intellectuals." Although it is not our intention to answer this question
in its entirety, it is
our intention to make the following points:

1.Whatever the ideological differences within
the
liberation movement here in the U.S., our
movement must persuade those countries that are
Black and truly anti imperialist, to take a principled
stand on the issue of political fugitives from the
shores of the U.S.A.

2.That the nature of
imperialism and racism
requires of all those that oppose these twin evils the
utmost in mutual support short of actual interference
within the national struggle of a particular people.

In respect to point number one, it should be obvious to all elements
of the Black
liberation movement that things will get worse before they can possibly
get better. The
crisis of the capitalist system, increased domestic reaction, and other
factors indicate
that Black people will feel the ramifications of contradictions more
so than any other
class or group in this country. We can no longer sit by and rationalize
the fact of the
repressive apparatus of the ruling classes arrayed against our struggle.
It would be
incorrect for any responsible movement activist not to prepare for
eventualities that the
struggle for liberation may be confronted with.

We all must consider that any intensification of our struggle will lead
to an increase of
repression. This should not be feared as the pseudo revolutionaries
would have us do.
Instead, we should see any intensification of repression as a necessary
result of our
increased efforts toward full freedom and prepare for it. Essential
to such preparation
is the establishment of principles of political sanctuary beyond the
shores of the
imperialist U.S.

We cannot but note that a real friend does not turn you away from his
door in times of
danger, and just as those independent and progressive nations of Africa
principally
support and give sanctuary to the freedom fighters of Africa, it is
equally as principled
that the movement for Black liberation within the U.S. be supported
in a like fashion.
Every group, every organization in the struggle for self determination,
should put "this
request high on the agenda of tasks to be dealt with. Our movement
as a whole should
make the principled stand that our right to struggle) and the mutual
obligation to
support all anti imperialist movements is more than mere rhetoric,
and as such we as
a movement should be supported on the international level.

The second point deals with the basis for our contention that support
is necessary, for
without a unity in effort world wide imperialism will not be defeated,
nor racism
eradicated.

It is the international web of U.S. imperialism, its profound effect
on the lives of the
worlds people that puts our struggle in such a crucial strategic position.
International
support should be based on this strategic premise, for if self determination
is a
legitimate goal of our struggle it will ultimately become an international
question. As a
movement we will be unable to create the principled international support
necessary if
we do not speak as one voice. Thus the principle of a National Front
has clear
international implications and is conducive in creating a unity in
effort on the
international level. To create the type of solidarity needed we should
emphasize
practical approached. Sanctuary for our movement's activists is a practical
approach
that can develop into the establishment of a permanent strategic headquarters
abroad,
out of the immediate reach of the enemy, and able to give strategic
guidance to the
movement during heightened repression. There are other such practical
approaches
already in motion.

It is incorrect for those involved in the struggle to attend international
conferences
without putting -the question of practical and principled support of
our movement on the
agenda, this every organization should at least agree with in principle.
In terms of
international solidarity, the same principle holds true for other progressive
nations that
also holds true for us. We rely primarily upon our own resources but
we do not refuse
revolutionary aid offered in the spirit of solidarity. Our principle
of self reliance is not
compromised as a result of seeking concrete international support,
it is enhanced by
its revolutionary nature.

We find it absurd that many brothers and sisters can support the armed
struggles in
Africa and not support the armed front at home. This is adopting the
posture of
solidarity with the essential spirit and revolutionary substance. It
comes as no surprise
than that progressive struggles do not support our movement as they
should, how can
they when we ourselves do not support our own? In the final analysis
true revolutionary
internationalism begins at home. It begins with basic principles of
revolutionary
struggle.

In summation, the Black Liberation Movement must move forward into the
international
arena with clear revolutionary politics instead of "community oriented
perspective"
devoid of broad and far reaching understanding. Revolutionary nationalism
is and
must be revolutionary internationalism, Pan-Africanism if it is to
be revolutionary must
express not only international Black solidarity, but revolutionary
solidarity with ail
oppressed peoples struggles against U.S. imperialism.
ALLIANCES WITH WHITES

We are opposed to unprincipled class collaboration in our struggle for
liberation, for
unprincipled class collaboration can only weaken and dilute our struggle.
On the other
hand, we uphold the principle of unity based on struggle around issues
that relate to
our peoples revolutionary development. The principle of unity on struggle
does not
remove our right to principled criticism of reactionary ideas and struggle
with incorrect
views.

The question of Black White alliances is both a tactical and strategic
question of
policy, that can only be answered by given objective conditions and
not by emotional
reflex. Many brothers and sisters think that under no circumstances
should we as Black
people enter into alliances with whites. These comrades consistently
confuse alliance
with bourgeois integration, or they maintain that all whites are our
enemy, and therefore
to have any alliance with whites can only lead to co-optation of our
forces. Still other
arguments maintain that in Black White alliances we will be "fronted
off" and for whites'
own benefit. Some argue these views ideologically, in that they believe
that a method)
ideological system, if invented by whites cannot be adapted to, modified
and
developed to serve Black folks. It is a good thing Mao, Ho Chi Minh,
Amilcar Cabral,
Kim II Sung and a host of other revolutionaries who led successful
struggles did not
think with such blinders.

The root cause of such incorrect views of alliances with whites is "fear"
and lack of
confidence in the forces that we ourselves build, we as a people are
not at all used to
dealing with white folks from a position of power and we fear that
we will be
manipulated against our will. Another contributing factor in creating
our narrow
perspectives is the fact that because we lack a clear understanding
of class struggle
we are unable to see the real differences that exist among whites themselves,
and are
unable to exploit these differences for our own struggle. Nothing is
absolute, including
white folks and their alleged unity. To persist in the incorrect view
that whites are
all embracing in their unity among other whites is a stupid and childish
myth that we
have as a people. It is a confusion an oppressed people make when confronted
with a
seemingly all powerful system of oppression, we have confused the appearance
of the
system with its substance. In capitalist society class struggle, inter
group antagonism,
ethnocentric divisions, are all at the basis of such a system. Competition
is the order of
the day, and class unity, group unity, are all transitory, subject
to change at any given
moment. The historical fact that out of such conflict racism has evolved
as culturally
typical of all white society should not obscure the real differences
among whites based
on economic, social, and political position, we combat racism with
revolutionary
nationalism and a Black revolutionary united front, not with reactionary
nationalism and
racism. We combat economic exploitation with revolutionary class struggle
waged
against the capitalist class and their flunkies. These are the methods
the movement
should employ, revolutionary nationalism secures in our own hands our
movement for
self determination, and thus combats the historical dynamic of white
racism, while
revolutionary class struggle allows us to defeat our class oppressor
and enter into
alliance beneficial to us.

Revolutionary struggle is a process, and like all things, goes through
stage of
development, setbacks, and periods of dormancy, at one point uniting
seemingly
contradictory elements, and at another eliminating these elements.
The principles of
united fronts, principled alliances, are basic recognition of this
dialectical process of
social change. Alliances based on revolutionary class consciousness
and around our
national interests as a people can never be "integration." Integration
is a class
collaboration of an unprincipled and reactionary nature, for it is
based on the
revolutionary considerations of our struggle must be principled ones,
its principle
characteristic being our own working class interests as a people.

Does this mean Black White worker solidarity at any coast? Black White
worker
solidarity cannot be attained at any cost, but at a particular cost.
We do not agree with
white leftist revisionists the Black and white workers share the same
interests because
they are both workers. While this may be true on a tactical level (specific
struggles
around certain issues), it is not true on a strategic level. Strategically
speaking (long
range) the Black workers ultimate goal is the same as the masses of
Blacks, which is
toward national self determination as a people, the creation of a socialist
state, or
Black nation places different requirements on Black worker our move
is for
autonomy our working class must not exist for any other state but our
own. Whereas
the white worker has an historical obligation to create his own socialist
relationships.
The cultural, and social dynamics of racism mandates this distinction
if we are not to
fail victim to poorlessness in the future when capitalist relations
are abolished. National
self determination is therefore a necessary stage for both Blacks and
whites in
creating new human beings able to relate to each other. Thus Black
worker white
worker solidarity can only be a tactical policy not a complete strategy
having as its end
one socialist entity as the revisionists would have us believe. Recognition
of our right
to national self determination is not compromised when we clearly understand
our
tasks as a movement. Both the establishment of a Black revolutionary
Nation based on
socialist relations, and overthrowing the present capitalist system
and establishment of
predominantly white workers state, are complementary struggles, and
as such there
will be tactical unity around issues that affect both Black and white
workers. This is not
integration.

On the armed front, solidarity is based upon revolutionary action. We
recognize the
legitimacy of all revolutionary violence against the capitalist corporate
state, its ruling
classes, and its institutions. Militarily speaking, clandestine alliances
between different
revolutionary armed formations is a matter of coordinating command
first. Until such
time as the armed front develops its logistical machinery in depth,
such coordination of
command is unlikely. But for the Black liberation movement, its armed
front, and its
entire clandestine network, there is no hang-up concerning ideological,
or military
control of our struggle by whites. Organized armed struggle has freed
us of this fear so
typical on the mass front. Our formations are Black led controlled
and organized to win
our fight for liberation.

The Black liberation movement must be a principled and revolutionary
movement, or it
will be unable to lead our struggle for freedom forward to final victory.
The question of
Black White alliance is not a question of should we form such alliances,
but a question
of when and with whom. To consider an tactical alliances that are in
our own best
interests, and that strengthen our struggles position as "integrationist,"
is therefore an
incorrect view to ally oneself with something is not to necessarily
bring that thing into
your ranks and give it control over your political policy. We refute
all ideas that confuse
principle revolutionary unity with unprincipled class collaboration.

In closing, it is clear that there is still much to be learned, and
our movement will surely
encounter difficulties and setbacks in the coming years. We must prepare
ourselves,
our people, and our ideas for the long and difficult road ahead. Our
preparation must
be thorough and complete, for our very existence will depend on how
well we prepare
on all fronts of the struggle. We are in the turbulent years, the hard
years. Black people
and oppressed people throughout the world are entering the season of
struggle.